As Barcelona scramble to register Dani Olmo for the second half of the season, multiple Premier League clubs are preparing a move for the midfielder as a potential free agent.
Barcelona had signed Dani Olmo last summer from RB Leipzig for a transfer fee of around 60 million euros but they have not been able to register him. Now that the January transfer window has opened, Olmo is on the verge of being a free agent – should the player activate that clause on his contract.
Barca have pleaded to the Royal Spanish Football Federation [RFEF] to grant them new licenses for Dani Olmo but their request has been rejected. Now, as per a report in the ESPN, Barca will try and resolve this issue by January 3 but if that does not happen then the 26-year-old could leave for free.
Why have Barcelona not been able to register Dani Olmo?
Even though Dani Olmo has played 11 LaLiga games for Barca this season but the club’s inflated books of accounts have not allowed them to register the midfielder.
And the major reason for that is because the club’s still playing wages for Busquets, Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba because their wages were deferred during the pandemic.
Barca have requested these players to forfeit their remaining salaries but all of them have rejected the proposal. Since the Blaugrana are still making the payments their wage bills do not allow them to register Dani Olmo.
Which club is most likely to land the Spanish midfielder?
There’s no doubt that a host of Premier League clubs have shown an interest in the midfielder and as per multiple reports, Arsenal are the first major English side who have made contact with Olmo’s representatives.
Apart from the Gunners, Manchester City, Spurs and Manchester United have also been linked with him and if Barcelona cannot get things sorted quickly then all these teams will make concrete moves very soon. Mikel Arteta wants to sign Dani Olmo primarily to get all the playmaking load off of Martin Odegaard’s shoulders but at Manchester City, the 26-year-old will have the opportunity to replace Kevin De Bruyne because the Belgium international is expected to leave at the end of this season.
Man United have also been linked but Olmo has reportedly ruled out a move to Old Trafford and fresh updates are claiming that the Red Devils will first need to clear their massive wage bills before they can even think of signing top tier players.
PSG and Bayern Munich have also been monitoring this situation very keenly however, Atletico Madrid seem to be the current favourites to sign Dani Olmo, should he decide to leave Barcelona.
For obvious reasons, a move to one of the Premier League clubs will be very much hyped but we are very much confident that Barcelona will find a way to register Dani Olmo for the second half of the season. In the worst of circumstances, even if Barca fail to register, Olmo will have to activate his release clause for him to become a free agent and we don’t think the midfielder will want to do this.
His agent Andy Bara has made it clear that the midfielder is very optimistic about continuing to play for Barcelona for the remainder of the season and beyond.
“The decision made by Dani is to stay at Barcelona as he wants play for Barça,” Bara told reporters. “We are not considering any other option. Dani wants to play for Barcelona.”